NEW YORK — Wall Street ended a painful year with another steep loss Monday as investors glumly anticipated that 2008 would bring more of the uncertainty and turbulence of 2007.
The Dow Jones industrials fell 101 points, the latest in a string of triple-digit moves that became commonplace amid a continuum of bad news about housing, faltering mortgages and shrinking credit. Thanks to a big first-half advance, the index managed to finish 2007 with a respectable increase of 6.43 percent — not as large as the 16.29 percent jump in 2006 but a better performance than the modest loss in 2005.
The Dow’s annual gain came even after it posted its worst fourth-quarter drop in 20 years amid billion-dollar losses at the biggest financial firms and falling spending by consumers whose budgets were crimped by high oil prices and declining home prices.
“Considering all that’s going on, the market really acted pretty well,” said Todd Leone, managing director of equity trading at Cowen & Co.
There was more downbeat news on housing Monday. The National Association of Realtors said November existing-home sales rose 0.4 percent to an annual rate of 5 million — the first increase in nine months. However, sales are 20 percent below where they were a year ago, and the median existing-home price has dropped 3.3 percent over the past 12 months.
The Dow fell 101.05, 0.76 percent, to 13,264.82. The index remains below its Oct. 9 record high of 14,164.53, at which point it was up more than 13 percent year-to-date.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the technology- dominated Nasdaq composite index declined Monday, but both posted annual gains for the fifth straight year.
The S&P 500 fell 10.13, 0.69 percent, to 1,468.36, to end 2007 with a gain of 3.53 percent. It reached a record close of 1,565.15 on Oct. 9.
The Nasdaq fell 22.18, 0.83 percent, to 2,652.28, to finish the year with a 9.81 percent gain. Despite the market’s volatility, this was the best performance for the Nasdaq, still well below its tech-boom highs, since 2003.
It was a remarkable year on Wall Street. The market began the year continuing the rally that propelled the Dow above 12,000 for the first time in October 2006. Then, in late February, came a reminder that stocks were capable of turning tail and plunging — a skid on China’s stock market and an ominous economic outlook from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sent the Dow down 416 points in one day.
That panic didn’t last long. In April, the Dow barreled above 13,000 for the first time and then glided past 14,000 in mid-July.
But in late July, the market realized the slump in housing and a rise in mortgage foreclosures, due to resetting adjustable-rate loans, was taking a toll across the credit markets.
